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Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

Probably not!

On the net there are millions of informative pages dedicated to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), its symptoms, causes, treatments etc etc. FoodReactions.org is not going to repeat all of what these pages are saying. Here we talk about something all other writers do not mention. If you have been diagnosed with IBS it is probably not... because it is suggested that the symptoms of IBS may be wrongly attributed to lactose intolerance. Nearly all searches conducted conclude that a lactose free diet or a diet supplemented with lactase enzyme resulted in subsided symptoms for more than half of the of IBS subjects! That is right, if you have been on a strict and regimental diet for years carry on reading, because this could be your lucky day.

Misdiagnosis of IBS

The first web site I published back in January 2000 concentrated mainly on lactose intolerance. However, I included a page with some information about Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) because they both have similar symptoms and there is a possibility of a misdiagnosis.

Three months after the publication I received an email from Bahrain. The reader was misdiagnosed with IBS but after coming across my web site he realised that he was 'simply' lactose intolerant rather than suffering from IBS. For 15 years he stood by a stringent diet excluding a long list of foods. He now just follows a lactose free diet and enjoys the rest of foods he omitted for all those years. Later I came across lactase enzymes and made them available here, more and more e-mails followed from all over the world of people so happy to have discovered this page. If you have been diagnosed with IBS, there is nothing to loose, just treat it as lactose intolerance and either avoid dairy or simple take lactase enzymes. Check them here, the best one being Prolactazyme Forte. Your life may be about to change.

IBS is a multi- symptom gastrointestinal motility disorder that have a wide clinical spectrum and is associated with symptoms of gastrointestinal dysmotility and visceral hypersensitivity. Symptoms of IBS overlap other gastrointestinal conditions including coeliac (celiac) disease and lactose intolerance. Many medical reviews and researches demonstrate that a significant number of patients with IBS experience improvement with symptoms if either avoiding lactose foods or take lactase enzyme supplements (Tolliver et al. J Clin Gastroenterology 1996 Jul;23(1):15-7).

Various studies

In a study in Italy, similar results were achieved. Vernia et al. report that 157 (68%) of the 240 diagnosed with IBS had lactose intolerance. They were asked to follow a lactose free diet and 110 of them did, while the rest did not. 48 of the 110 persons who followed a lactose free died had their symptoms subside, 43 had their symptoms reduced significantly and only the remaining 19 showed no improvement (Ital J Gastroenterology 1995 Apr;27(3):117-21).

Further studies published in the Lancet by Jones et al. (Lancet. 1982 Nov 20;2(8308):1115-7.) find that IBS in some individuals is provoked by food intolerances such as carbohydrate intolerance including fructose and sorbitol (Goldstrein et al. Isr Med Assoc J. 2000 Aug;2(8):583-7). For more details on food intolerance and how to treat it visit the Food Intolerance section. Finally, several researches published in medical gazettes concluded that more than half of the people diagnosed with IBS are lactose mal absorbers and simply by following a lactose free diet, or supplementing it with lactase enzyme they can function a normal life avoiding huge costs for both themselves and the health-care systems.

Approved lactase enzyme supplements are now available from foodreactions.org. They are shipped world wide so there is no excuse for not trying them. They may change your life.

Lactose Intolerance Symptoms

The table below lists the symptoms of Lactose Intolerance. You may notice similar if not identical symptoms to IBS.

Symptoms of Lactose Intolerance

Cause

not enough enzymes to breakdown the sugars, such as lactose consumed in foods.

Age

starts later in childhood but most common in adults, may be temporarily present in the form of colic in babies.